From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arab culture is an inclusive term that draws together the common themes and overtones found in the Arab World, especially those of the Middle-Eastern countries. This region's distinct religion, art, and food are some of the fundamental features that define Arab culture.

The Arabic language has various dialects from the numerous countries and traditions. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the language of the media and of educated Arabs, is different from the everyday spoken Arabic dialects in different Arab countries. Spoken Arabic also differs greatly in speech from written Arabic, which is much more colloquial and formal.

Arabic and Islam

It is sometimes difficult to translate Islamic concepts, and concepts specific to Arab culture, without using the original Arabic terminology. The Qur'an is written in Arabic, and Muslims traditionally deem it impossible to translate in a way that adequately expresses its exact meaning; indeed, until recently, some schools of thought maintained that it should not be translated at all. A list of Islamic terms in Arabic covers those terms which are too specific to translate in one phrase. While Arabic is strongly associated with Islam (and is the language of salah), it is also spoken by Arab Christians, Oriental MizrahiJews, and smaller sects such as Iraqi Mandaeans.

A majority of the world's Muslims do not speak Arabic, but only know some fixed phrases of the language, such as those used in Islamic prayer. However, learning Arabic is an essential part of the curriculum for anyone attempting to become an Islamic religious scholar.

Religions

Before the coming of Islam, most Arabs followed a religion featuring the worship of a number of deities, including Hubal, Wadd, Al-Lat, Manat, and Uzza, while some tribes had converted to Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, had apparently rejected polytheism in favor of monotheism. The most prominent Arab Christian kingdoms were the Ghassanid and Lakhmid kingdoms. With the expansion of Islam, the majority of Arabs rapidly entered into Islam and became Muslims, and the pre-Islamic polytheistic traditions disappeared.

At present, most Arabs are Muslims. Sunni Islam dominates in most areas, overwhelmingly so in North Africa; Shia Islam is prevalent in Bahrain, southern Iraq and adjacent parts of Saudi Arabia, southern Lebanon, parts of Syria, and northern Yemen. There are some religious minorities like the Druze, Ismaaili Shia and other off shoots of Islam.

Reliable estimates of the number of Arab Christians, which in any case depends on the definition of "Arab" used, vary. According to Fargues 1998, "Today Christians only make up 9.2% of the population of the Near East". In Lebanon they now number about 39% of the population [1], in Syria they make up about 10 to 15%, in the Palestinian territories the figure is 3.8%, and in Israel Arab Christians constitute 2.1% (or roughly 10% of the Israeli Arab population). In Egypt, they constitute 5.9% of the population, and in Iraq they presumably comprise 2.9% of the populace. Most North and South American and Australian Arabs (about two-thirds) are Arab Christians, particularly from Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon.

Jews from Arab countries - mainly Mizrahi Jews and Yemenite Jews - are today usually not categorised as Arab. Sociologist Philip Mendes asserts that before the anti-Jewish actions of the 1930s and 1940s, overall Iraqi Jews "viewed themselves as Arabs of the Jewish faith, rather than as a separate race or nationality". [2] Prior to the emergence of the term Mizrahi, the term "Arab Jews" (Yehudim ‘Áravim, יהודים ערבים) was sometimes used to describe Jews of the Arab world. The term is rarely used today. The few remaining Jews in the Arab countries reside mostly in Morocco and Tunisia. Between the late 1940s and early 1960s, following the creation of the state of Israel, most of these Jews left or were expelled from their countries of birth and are now mostly concentrated in Israel. Some also immigrated to France (where they form the largest Jewish community, outnumbering European Jews), but relatively few to the United States. (see Jewish exodus from Arab lands).

Islam began in Arabia in the 7th century. Under the leadership of Muhammad and his successors, Islam rapidly spread by religious conversion and military conquest.[5] Today followers of Islam may be found throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. It does not usually include works written using the Arabic alphabet but not in the Arabic language such as Persian literature and Urdu literature. The Arabic word used for literature is adab which is derived from a word meaning "to invite someone for a meal" and implies politeness, culture and enrichment.

Arabic literature emerged in the 6th century with only fragments of the written language appearing before then. It was the Qur'an in the 7th century which would have the greatest lasting effect on Arabic culture and its literature.

The Mu'allaqat

The Muallaqat (Arabic: المعلقات, [al-muʕallaqaːt]) is the name given to a series of seven Arabic poems or qasida that originated before the time of Islam. Each poem in the set has a different author, and is considered to be their best work. Mu’allaqat means “The Suspended Odes or The Hanging Poems”, this is because the poems were hung on the wall in the Ka’ba at Mecca.

The stories of the Thousand and One Nights

The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , Arabic: كتاب ألف ليلة و ليلة‎ Kitāb 'Alf Layla wa-Layla; also known as The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night, One Thousand and One Nights, 1001 Arabian Nights, Arabian Nights, The Nightly Entertainments or simply The Nights) is a medieval Middle-Eastern literary epic which tells the story of Scheherazade, a Sassanid Queen, who must relate a series of stories to her malevolent husband, King Shahryar, to delay her execution. The stories are told over a period of one thousand and one nights, and every night she ends the story with a suspenseful situation, forcing the King to keep her alive for another day. The individual stories were created over many centuries, by many people and in many styles, and they have become famous in their own right. Notable examples include Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.

Qur'an and Islam

The Qur'an was the first major work of Arabic literature and the most influential.

The Qur'an had a significant influence of the Arabic language. The language used in the Qur'an is called classical Arabic and while modern Arabic has diverged slightly, the classical is still the style to be admired. Not only is the Qur'an the first work of any significant length written in the language it also has a far more complicated structure than the earlier literary works with its 114 suras (chapters) which contain 6,236 ayat (verses). It contains injunctions, narratives, homilies, parables, direct addresses from God, instructions and even comments on itself on how it will be received and understood. It is also admired for its layers of metaphor as well as its clarity, a feature it mentions itself in sura 16:103.

Although it contains elements of both prose and poetry, and therefore is closest to saj' or rhymed prose, the Qur'an is regarded as entirely apart from these classifications. The text is believed to be divine revelation and is seen as being eternal or 'uncreated'. This leads to the doctrine of i'jaz or inimitability of the Qur'an which implies that nobody can copy the work's style nor should anybody try.

There were a marked lack of significant poets until the 8th century. One notable exception was Hassan ibn Thabit who wrote poems in praise of Muhammad and was known as the "prophet's poet". Just as the Bible has held an important place in the literature of other languages, The Qur'an is important to Arabic. It is the source of many ideas, allusions and quotes and its moral message informs many works.

The other important genre of work in Qur'anic study is the tafsir or commentaries on the Qur'an. Arab writings relating to religion also includes many sermons and devotional pieces as well as the sayings of Ali which were collected in the 10th century as Nahj al-Balaghah or The Road to Eloquence.

Arab Media

History

Pre-21st Century

Prior to the Islamic Era, poetry was regarded as the main means of communication on the Arabian Peninsula. It related the achievements of tribes and defeats of enemies and also served as a tool for propaganda. After the arrival of Islam other forms of communication replaced poetry as the primary form of communication. Imams (preachers) played a role in disseminating information and relating news from the authorities to the people. The suq or marketplace gossip, as well as interpersonal relationships played an important role in the spreading of news and this form of communication among Arabs has held up today and is interregnal part of the life for any informed Muslim. Before the introduction of the printing pressMuslims obtained most of their news second hand, from the Imams at the Mosque, friends or in the marketplace. However, it was colonial powers and Christian Missionaries in Lebanon who were responsible for the introduction of the printing press. It was not until the 19th century that the first newspapers began to appear, mainly in Egypt and Lebanon, which boasted the most newspaper per capita. It was Napoleon Bonaparte, during the short lived French rule in Egypt that the first newspaper was published, albeit in French. There is debate over when the first Arabic language newspaper was published, according to the Arab scholar Abu Bakr, Al Tanbeeh (1800) published in Egypt and Junral Al Iraq (1816) in Iraq according to other researchers. In the Mid-19th century the Turkish Empire dominated the first newspapers. While in the Northern African countries of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria the French colonial power built a press link between mainland countries. The first newspapers were limited to official content and included accounts of relations with other countries and civil trials. In the following decades Arab media blossomed due to journalists mainly from Syria and Lebanon, who were intellectuals and published their newspapers without making a profit in mind. Because of the restrictions by most governments, these intellectuals were forced to flee their respective countries but had gained a following and because of their popularity in this field of work other intellectuals began to take interest in the field. The first emigrated Arab newspaper was published in Turkey in 1955 by its founder Rizqallah Hassoun Al Halabi, named Mar’at al Ahwal. It was criticized by the Ottoman Empire and shut down after only one year. Intellectuals in the Arab World soon realized the power of the press as an outlet for political expression as well as a place to express the Muslim faith. Some countries newspapers were government run and had political agendas in mind. Often the views weren’t shared by many of the population. Independent news began to spring up which expressed opinions and were a place for the public to out their views on the state. Illiteracy rates in the Arab world played a role in the formation of media and due to the low reader rates newspapers were forced to subsidize their publications with political parties, ensuring them favorable reviews. In other countries which were politically stable newspapers were rather an outlet for intellectuals to produce their literary publications with less focus on the political.

Present

After World War II, world economies began becoming interdependent upon one another, conceptualizing a pre-emptive approach of avoiding another world war. The ideological and economic objectives towards the developing world of the United States and the U.S.S.R. throughout the Cold War created the ground work for today’s socio-political situation in the Middle East. The 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement carved the borders of the Middle East which will lead to the borders of the nation-states that we recognize today, this moment signifies the beginning of difficulty in incorporating theories and practices into the region – the gift of sovereignty.

The economic boom in the Middle East that began in the 1970’s will rage the difficulty of incorporating these new ideas into the regions cultural identity and way of governance. The ideological wars between capitalism and communism in the Middle East from 1945 through the 1980’s allowed the development of Arab Media as it is today. The 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 oil crisis of the 1970s energy crisis brought the 1980s oil glut developing the oil rich countries of the Middle East at an exponential rate. The combination of an ideological schism, an economic boom, and the autocratic governments of the region pressing forward in the developing progressively created a volatile setting in their countries.

The economic boom in the oil rich nations of the Middle East conceived a growing demand for intelligent personnel to lead new industries to generate success in the global arena. The emerging intelligentsia began studying at universities in Europe, United States, and sovereign universities of the region, thus bringing home with them new ideas in a developing region, which clashed with the established order and themselves. Thus, government intervention; through incarceration and liquidation preserved stability against ideological movements. Regimes accommodated changes that brought economic growth, but they persecuted and attempt to eliminate the changes that brought instability and hindered their leadership. New professions emerged linearly with the growing advancement in technology. Television, satellites, computers, and theinternet, their ownership and incorporation into the lives of the population has been growing at large. The educated personnel professionalized the presentation of media in the Arab World in all its media forms, now mimicking the quality of western media.

Freedoms that have branched through the introduction of the internet in Middle East are creating a stir politically, culturally, and socially. There exists a developing divide between the generations in world that is developing silently and rapidly. The internet is a measurement of the growing rift between the generations, certainly those who are technologically savvy and are assimilating into the internet community. Individuals under thirty (Generation Y) who have been raised alongside technology are a byproduct of the flattening world, where interconnectivity between people has multiplied ten-folds.

The creation of the internet, changed the way we interact, in theory the same way television changed our interaction with one another, essentially as did the creation of language. Each technological innovation has brought us together, informed us, and allowed us to better ourselves. Web 2.0 and its byproducts, has created a forum which connects all people globally to a single point. The Arab World is in conflict internally by the interests of their people through the external force of innovation. The internet has brought economic prosperity and development in places where it once was not, but it also brought negative aspects with its freedom and its power of reach. Bloggers have been incarcerated all around in the Middle East for their opinions and views on their regimes, the same consequence which was once given to those who publically expressed themselves without anonymity. But the power of the internet has provided also a public shield for these bloggers since they have the ability to engage public sympathy on such a large scale.This is creating a dilemma that shakes the foundation of Arab culture, government, religious interpretation, economic prosperity, and personal integrity; a dilemma that exists in every other culture and country.

Live your life honestly, because whatever you do, whatever mistakes you make, will be searchable one day.[6]

Language

Arabic language can be categorized into three categories, Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), and Colloquial language. Classical Arabic, the language of Islam and of the Qur’an is solely used for religious purposes, yet it is kept alive through daily prayers and study of the Qur’an. Modern Standard Arabic, influenced by foreign languages as well as colloquial languages, is a contemporary version the classical language used by the media, and serves as a universal language for the Arab world. Each country or region in the Arab world has varying colloquial languages which are used for everyday speech, yet its presence in the media world is discouraged and although the dialects can be considered separate languages, they are not officially recognized as so.

Dialects

Each country of the Arab world has its own unique dialect, or colloquial language. Although these vernaculars are the everyday spoken languages of the Arab people, they are not recognized as individual languages but rather dialects, proving communication between two different dialects impossible. Thus, vernaculars are seen as a threat to MSA and the classical language, as they differ in grammatical structure in addition to their contradictory nature towards the unifying effect MSA has on the Arab world. To protect the classical language from the vernacular, newspapers are required to have editors to review articles, ensuring a unified Arab character is establish, something which can be destroyed by use of a vernacular. Vernaculars are however present in certain forms of media including satires, dramas, music videos and other local programs. The influence of colloquial Arabic on MSA can be seen through newspaper headlines. MSA takes on the sentence structure of verb-subject-object, while colloquial language retains the structure of subject-verb-object. The implementation of colloquial sentence structure is seen quite often in headlines, yet not in the articles themselves. Colloquial language also has a presence in soft news, including tabloids, satirical comments and cartoons. Politicians have also been known to incorporate colloquial phrases into their speeches in order to appear more appealing to the public. Despite their daily use, Colloquial Arabic languages are seen as a force of corruption on the purity of the classical language as well as MSA.

MSA

Prior to the establishment of MSA, the Semitic language of classical Arabic was the only accepted language of the Islamic culture. Classical Arabic was used in the Qur’an, and for other religious purposes, rendering it a language accessible only to religious and formally educated men. Due to varying vernaculars amongst the different areas of the Islamic empire, there was a need for a standardization of the language. Prior to MSA, during the nineteenth century, the language of the media was stylized and resembled literary language of the time, proving to be ineffective in relaying information. Currently MSA pertains to Arab media, including newspapers, books and some television stations, in addition to all formal writing. A standardized language for the Arab world enables media sources to attract the largest possible audience. Although MSA is taught in schools throughout the Arab world, it is not a spoken language intended for everyday use; rendering the language as a diglossia, a linguistic term referring to a language containing two distinct versions pertaining to informal and formal occasions. In fact, although studying MSA, students will respond to the teacher’s questions in the vernacular. In terms of the present generation, MSA is losing favor due to its complex rules and the increasing popularity of foreign languages, specifically English. There has been much criticism of MSA as some contend that its strict rules leave journalists unable to report facts in a straightforward manner, as their focus remains on the grammatical and structural correctness of their words. In comparison to vernaculars, MSA is also criticized for its vagueness, as the presence of one word representing numerous meanings results in ambiguous comprehension as well as difficulty in translations. MSA denies the recognition of the countless colloquial versions of Arabic present in the Arab world. Consequently there is a fight to incorporate vernaculars into the media. although it is based on the classical language, MSA is not a direct representation of the classical literary language. Modernization of the language, specifically influences from foreign languages, has been seen as a danger to the integrity of the classical language. However, MSA differs greatly from the classical language, which is stagnant and uninfluenced by factors that mold and shape the ever developing language of MSA. The influence of outside languages is most seen in media language and its acceptance of foreign words and phrases. Words will be borrowed from other languages even though the word may already exist in Arabic. Neologisms are adapted through word for word translation and paraphrasing. A result from journalists’ need for quick translations of incoming reports, this serves as a major method for MSA to be influenced by foreign languages, specifically English and French. English Words Adapted by Arab Media

The First Lady

السيدة الأولى

Ethnic

اثنيه

Internet

انترنت

Strategy

استراتيجية

Archives

أرشيف

Despite the criticism towards the language, MSA proves to be essential factor in the Arab world, and a foundation for Pan Arabism, uniting the diverse Arab world through a universal language.

Regional Similarities and Differences

Media Values

The Arab World holds the same principles with their news generation as does the Western world, slight variations do exist between the two. Arab news values strictly revolve around political news putting the human interest stories to the side; the reverse is true for the American news values. The other value Arab media embraces as important is their global perspective with regard to presentation and production. The global orientation of Arab media integrated with the need to educate their populations, establishes social responsibility as one of the corner stones of its media values.[7]

Objectivity

Objectivity is truly a subjective quality in media presently. Every country’s journalists have their own definition of what objectivity is. Clear distinctions exist within the British, German, Swedish, Italian, and American journalists with their view of objectivity [8]. The same goes for the Arab world, objectivity is important, but it is preceded by the journalist’s nationalistic loyalties through social responsibility and remaining accurate in their reporting [9]. The news originated from political news, making it an integral portion of politics and society. It originally depended on the hard facts which was entirely focus on the political realm. Now, every bit of news holds a bias due to their partisan affiliation. This idea of remaining unbiased and objective in media is a futile endeavor due to media's conception being dependent closely to its tie with politics. News exists to inform, sway, enforce, or remove public opinion it is the objective of media itself, and a direct consequence of telling the story.

Nationalism

Social Responsibility

Loyalties

Political

Business

Social

Media Forms

Publishing

NEWSPAPERS

From a historical perspective, news in the Arab world was not a mass product; rather, its main aim was to provide instruction to the officials and governors, guiding them to improve their performance. However, by the middle of the nineteenth century, rulers seem to spot the powerful role of media,[10].

In most Arab countries, newspapers cannot be published without a government-issued license. Most Arab countries also have press laws, which impose boundaries on what can and cannot be said in print. “There is an old Arab saying, ‘Truth should be known, but not declared.’ Today, cover-ups remain a fact of life in the Middle East… the media continue to serve as ‘tools’ of political structures in which ‘control is the name of the game’.” [11] Censorship plays a significant role in journalism in the Arab World. Censorship comes in a variety of forms: Self-censorship, Government Censorship (governments struggle to control through technological advances in ex. the internet), Ideology/Religious Censorship, and Tribal/Family/Alliances Censorship.

Generally, Arab governments seek to conceal political discourse and activity. In addition to censorship, a number of administrative and legal devices are put it place to restrict freedom of expression in journalism. Newspapers in the Arab World can be divided into three categories: government owned, partisan owned, and independently owned. “Now, newspaper ownership has been consolidated in the hands of powerful chains and groups. Yet, profit is not the driving force behind the launching of newspapers; publishers may establish a newspaper to ensure a platform for their political opinions, although it is claimed that this doesn’t necessarily influence the news content”[12]. In the Arab world, as far as content is concerned, news is politics.
There is a large divide between print media and new media; now most print media (newspapers) have websites. Most Arab newspapers can be accessed online.
For a list of Arabic newspapers visit: http://www.arab2.com/newspapers.htm (or) http://www.al-bab.com/media/newspapers.htmJournalism in the Arab world comes with a range of dangers. Journalists throughout the Arab world can be imprisoned, tortured, and even killed in their line of work. Thus, self-censorship is extremely important for many Arab journalists.

MAGAZINES

In most Arab countries, magazines cannot be published without a government-issued license. Magazines in the Arab World, like many of the magazines in the Western world, are geared towards women. However, the number of magazines in the Arab World is significantly smaller than that of the Western world. The Arab World is not as advertisement driven the way the western world is. Advertisers fuel the funding for most Western magazines to exist. Thus, a lesser emphasis on advertisement in the Arab World plays into the low number of magazines.

Broadcasting

RADIO

Arab radio broadcasting began in the 1920s, but only a few Arab countries had their own broadcasting stations before World War II. After 1945, most Arab states began to create their own radio broadcasting systems, although it was not until 1970, when Oman opened its radio transmissions, that every one of them had its own radio station.

Among Arab countries, Egypt has been a leader in radio broadcasting from the beginning. Broadcasting began in Egypt in the 1920s with private commercial radio. In 1947, however, the Egyptian government declared radio a government monopoly and began investing in its expansion.

By the 1970s, Egyptian radio had fourteen different broadcast services with a total air time of 1,200 hours per week. Egypt is ranked third in the world among radio broadcasters. The programs were all government controlled, and much of the motivation for the government's investment in radio was due to the aspirations of President Gamal Abdel Nasser to be the recognized leader of the Arab world.

Egypt's "Voice of the Arabs" station, which targeted other Arab countries with a constant stream of news and political features and commentaries, became the most widely heard station in the region. Only after the June 1967 war, when it was revealed that this station had misinformed the public about what was happening, did it lose some credibility; nevertheless it retained a large listenership.

On the Arabian Peninsula, radio was slower to develop. In Saudi Arabia, radio broadcasts started in the Jidda-Mecca area in 1948, but they did not start in the central or eastern provinces until the 1960s. Neighboring Bahrain had radio by 1955, but Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Oman did not start indigenous radio broadcasting until nearly a quarter century later.

US Influence

The United States has long sought to control the Arab radio waves. When they took control of Baghdad in 2003, one of the first things they did was establish a new home for Iraqi radio programming: an American C-130 aircraft known as Commando Solo, the source of five hours of daily television programming and American radio broadcasts transmitted across the country on five different frequencies.

They also established Radio Sawa in 2002, a 24-hour, seven day a week Arabic-language radio station that seeks to counter-balance the local radio in many Arab countries that is considered by the U.S. government as not suitable for American interests. Creators of the network (the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, a government funded international broadcasting agency that consists of a bi-partisan board of directors nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Secretary of State also serves on the BBG.) hope that the station will win over large portions of radio listeners in Arab countries. The station is funded by the United States Congress.

The station states that it is "dedicated to broadcasting accurate, timely and relevant news about the Middle East, the world and the United States" and is "committed to the highest standards of journalism, free marketplace of ideas, respect for the intelligence and culture of its audience, and a style that is upbeat, modern and forward-looking." However, questions of journalistic independence from the United States is a large issue with Radio Sawa and other American controlled radio networks. It seems as though the U.S. government created the network as part of a larger political and public relations strategy in the region, not to encourage freedom of the press in the Arab world. There's a paradox in its founding: Just as viewers in Arab countries are turning away from state-run programming and embracing independent networks like Al-Jazeera, the U.S. is trying to compete with what is essentially state-run programming, only run by the U.S., not an Arab government.

Radio Sawa blends news with music and other lighter programming in order to attract a younger audience, but has been accused (according to a draft report prepared by the State Department's inspector general) of being so preoccupied with building an audience through its music that it has failed to adequately measure whether it is influencing minds.

Other Satellite Channels:Al-Arabiya: established in 2003; based in Dubai; offshoot of MBCAl-Hurra (“The Free One”): established in 2004 by the United States; counter perceives “biases” in Arab news media
Al-Maran: Owned by Hizbullah; Lebanese-based; highly controversial

“Across the Middle East, new television stations, radio stations and websites are sprouting like incongruous electronic mushrooms in what was once a media desert. Meanwhile newspapers are aggressively probing the red lines that have long contained them”[15]. Technology is playing a significant role in the changing Arab media. Pintak furthers, “Now, there are 263 free-to-air (FTA) satellite television stations in the region, according to Arab Advisors Group. That’s double the figure as of just two years ago”.[16]Freedom of speech and money have little to do with why satellite television is sprouting up everywhere. Instead, “A desire for political influence is probably the biggest factor driving channel growth. But ego is a close second” [17]. The influence of the West is very apparent in Arab Media especially in television. Arab soap operas and the emerging popularity of reality TV are evidence of this notion.
“In the wake of controversy triggered by Super Star and Star Academy, some observers have hailed reality television as a harbinger of democracy in the Arab world.”[18]Star Academy in Lebanon is strikingly similar to American Idol mixed with the Real World. Star Academy began in 2003 in the Arab world. “Reality television entered Arab public discourse in the last five years at a time of significant turmoil in the region: escalating violence in Iraq, contested elections in Egypt, the struggle for women’s political rights in Kuwait, political assassinations in Lebanon, and the protracted Arab-Israeli Conflict. This geo-political crisis environment that currently frames Arab politics and Arab-Western relations is the backdrop to the controversy surrounding the social and political impact of Arab reality television, which assumes religious, cultural or moral manifestations.” [19]

FILM

“Most Arab countries did not produce films before nation independence. In Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, production is even now confined to short films or television. Bahrain witnessed the production of its first and only full-length feature film in 1989… In Jordan national production has barely exceeded half a dozen feature films. Algeria and Iraq have produced approximately 100 films each, Morocco around seventy, Tunisia around 1130, and Syria some 150. Lebanon, owing to an increased production during the 1950s and 1960s, has made some 180 feature films. Only Egypt has far exceeded these countries, with a production of more than 2,500 feature films (all meant for cinema, not television)[20]."

As with most aspects of Arab Media, censorship plays a large art of creating and distributing films. “In most Arab countries, film projects must first pass a state committee, which grants or denies permission to shoot. Once this permission is obtained, another official license, a so-called visa, is necessary in order to exploit the film commercially. This is normally approved by a committee of the Ministry of Information or a special censorship authority” [21]. The most significant taboo topics under state supervision are consistent with those of other forms of media: religion, sex, and politics.

Internet

The Internet in the Arab world is powerful source of expression and information as it is in other places in the world. While some believe that it is the harbinger of freedom in media to the Middle East, others think that it is a new medium for censorship. Both are true. The Internet has created a new arena for discussion and the dissemination of information for the Arab world just as it has in the rest of the world. The youth in particular are accessing and utilizing the tools. People are encouraged and enabled to join in political discussion and critique in a manner that was not previously possible. Those same people are also discouraged and blocked from those debates as the differing regimes try to restrict access based on religious and state objections to certain material.

The internet in the Arab world has a snowball effect; now that the snowball is rolling, it can no longer be stopped. Getting bigger and stronger, it is bound to crush down all obstacles. In addition, to the stress caused by the Arab bloggers, a new forum was opened for Arab activists; Facebook. Arab activists have been using Facebook in the utmost creative way to support the democracy movement in the region, a region that has one of the highest rates of repression in the world. Unlike other regions where oppressive countries (like China, Iran and Burma) represent the exception, oppression can be found everywhere in the Arab world. The number of Arab internet users interested in political affairs does not exceed a few thousands, mainly represented by internet activists and bloggers, out of 58 million internet users in the Arab world. As few as they are, they have succeeded in shedding some light on the corruption and repression of the Arab governments and dictatorships.[22]

The Internet is newer in the Arab world than it is in Europe or Americas, but it is spreading quickly as it becomes more accessible to growing numbers of the population. The public Internet use began in the US in the 1980’s. Internet access began in the early 1990’s in the Arab world with Tunisia being first in 1991 according to Dr. Deborah L. Wheeler. The years of the introduction of the Internet the various Arab countries are reported differently. Wheeler reports that Kuwait joined in 1992 and in 1993 Turkey, Iraq and the UAE came online. In 1994 Jordan joined the Internet and Saudi Arabia and Syria followed in the late 1990’s. In reality the Arab world is not so far behind the rest of the globe with the introduction of the Internet. The US White House did not have www.whitehouse.gov until 1993. Financial considerations and the lack of widespread availability of services are factors in the slower growth in the Arab world, but taking into consideration the popularity of internet cafes, the numbers online are much larger than the subscription numbers would reveal[23].

The people most commonly utilizing the Internet in the Arab world are the youth. The café users in particular tend to be under 30, single and have a variety of levels of education and language proficiency. Despite reports that use of the internet was curtailed by lack of English skills, Dr. Wheeler found that people were able to search with Arabic. Searching for jobs, the unemployed frequently fill cafes in Egypt and Jordan. They are men and women equally. Most of them chat and they have email. In a survey conducted by Dr. Deborah Wheeler, she found them to almost all to have been taught to use the Internet by a friend or family member. They all felt their lives to have been significantly changed by the use of the Internet. The use of the Internet in the Arab world is very political in the nature of the posts and of the sites read and visited. The Internet has brought a medium to Arabs that allows for a freedom of expression not allowed or accepted before. For those who can get online, there are blogs to read and write and access to worldwide outlets of information once unobtainable. With this access, regimes have attempted to curtail what people are able to read, but the Internet is a medium not as easily manipulated as telling a newspaper what it can or cannot publish. The Internet can be reached via proxy server, mirror, and other means. Those who are thwarted with one method will find 12 more methods around the blocked site. As journalists suffer and are imprisoned in traditional media, the Internet is no different with bloggers regularly being imprisoned for expressing their views for the world to read. The difference is that there is a worldwide audience witnessing this crackdown and watching as laws are created and recreated to attempt to control the vastness of the Internet[24].

Jihadists are using the Internet to reach a greater audience. Just as a simple citizen can now have a worldwide voice, so can a movement. Regardless of your view of any movement, they are using the Internet to speak and be heard. Groups are using the Internet to share video, photos, programs and any kind of information imaginable. Standard media may not report what the Muslim Brotherhood would say on their site. However for the interested, the Internet is a tool that is utilized with great skill by those who wish to be heard. A file uploaded to 100 sites and placed in multiple forums will reach millions instantly. Information on the Internet can be thwarted, slowed, even redirected, but it cannot be stopped if someone wants it out there on the Internet.

The efforts by the various regimes to control the information are all falling apart gradually. The methods utilized are those same methods that protect American children in schools. Like previously stated the methods are easily manipulated such that access to what is blocked can be seen. Those fighting crime online have devised methods of tracking and catching criminals. Unfortunately those same tools are being used to arrest bloggers and those who would just wish to be heard. The Internet is a vast and seemingly endless source of information. Arabs are using it more than perhaps the world is aware and it is changing the media.

Media And Terrorism

A video claiming to be from the Osama bin Laden taking responsibility for the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day was aired by Al Jazeera on Sunday, January 24, 2010. The voice reported to be Osama bin Laden states: "The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a proof of the preceding messages sent by the heroes of September 11," he said. Through Al-Jazeera, terrorists like Osama bin Laden gain legitimacy to speak on a public platform, heard all around the Al Jazeera Network which spans globally, linking to other networks that stream these videos, even on YouTube. Stereotypes that Osama bin Laden portrays in his videos makes an emphasis on the stereotypes that have been generalized in the Western public.

“The establishment of stereotypes encourages people to react and behave in a manner that is both judgmental and biased. Despite the fact that these individuals [Arabs and Mulsims] are from different countries, with diverse cultures, beliefs and a variety of religions, they are characterized by one term, "Arabs." The Western media has often projected individuals of Arab descent in a negative manner. Currently, Arabs are seen as terrorists and murderers due to how the media presents them. Newspapers use key words such as extremists, terrorists and fanatics to describe Arabs [or Muslims]…”[25]

In The Clash of Civilizations, Huntington [26] explains that the greatest threats of terrorist violence are emerging from cultures in which dogmatic religious ideas are held strongly and pervasively throughout the members of the culture. Although much of popular media focuses on Islamist violence, Huntington [27] contends that terrorism is just as likely to be spawned in a variety of other societies where emotional religiosity and beliefs rooted in literal interpretations of scriptural texts are prevalent characteristics. Although Huntington argues that “global politics is both multipolar and multicivilizational” [28], he notes that Western countries, especially the United States, have traditionally insisted on casting any political foes, whether perceived or actual, into a binary and oppositional relationship that negates the complexities of both countries and their constituent cultures.

Despite the mountain of evidence suggesting that polarized relationships are almost always ineffective, creating greater animosity and violent fervor than existed before, it is clear that the United States continues to deny the kind of argument Huntington has laid out in The Clash of Civilizations[29]. In fact, after the terrorist attacks of September, 2001, the United States has only increased and intensified its efforts to cast societies perceived to be threatening into the role of antagonist. It is far more efficient, and effective within the popular imagination, to avoid a nuanced consideration of multiple cultures in conflict for numerous and complex reasons. Instead, the United States turns every concern into a polarized, oppositional paradigm; the Middle East just happens to be the latest in a long, historical string of the “Other” cast as antagonist. Huntington views this defensive posture as a dangerous policy and practice. He suggests that the “universalist pretensions” of the United States do indeed seem to be provoking the rest of the world’s disdain and, increasingly, its wrath, particularly in fundamentalist communities, which are “obsessed with the inferiority of their power” and are seeking recognition and retribution through terrorist activity[30]. Because they lack legitimate agency, authority, and credibility, these groups often demonstrate their power through violent attacks.

Esposito [31] adds depth to Huntington’s argument by specifically examining how the West in general, and the United States in particular, misunderstands Muslims, a group often characterized as religiously dogmatic. Esposito challenges the popularly held perception that Muslims are one-dimensional, noting that there is as much diversity within Muslim communities as there is between them[32]. In fact, Esposito argues, much as Huntington does, that our reductive and overly facile characterizations of other cultures prevents us from truly understanding them, only increasing their marginalization, frustration, and propensity to act out and display aggression against the West. One concrete example Esposito offers is the way in which the United States has come to define jihad, which actually means “struggle.” Jihad has been defined by the West as a holy war, and has overtones of hostile, anti-Western aggression. While jihad has, in fact, been appropriated in this manner by a certain segment of Islamist fundamentalists—and a segment that is not negligible in size—the simplistic approach to understanding other cultures only fosters their desire to gain power and assert their identity in the world.[33]Islamist terrorism is a revolutionary force that has changed world politics dramatically. Cognizant that the West will never invest them with legitimacy, Islamist terrorists have taken matters into their own hands and have determined to assert their power. Huntington and Esposito argue that this outcome should not be surprising. While terrorists must take responsibility for their own acts, Western countries must recognize how they foster the marginalization that prompts terrorism.
Edward Said, meanwhile, posits a more abstract social explanation, contending that “the difficulty of perception” has both complicated an easy understanding of the motivations for terrorism as well as served to instigate more frequent and more intense terrorist acts [34]. Said exposes the irrationality of the three assumptions, noting that the East “has always been endowed with greater size and with a greater [if unrealized] potential for power” [35], that Islam is hardly a late-coming religious phenomenon, and that the East will insist upon its right to participate in world affairs, if not through legitimate means, then through the instruments of violence and terrorism. S.O.

"The common style that developed is usually called 'Islamic' or 'Arab', though in fact it transcends religious, ethnic, geographical, and linguistic boundaries" and it is suggested that it be called the Near East (from Morocco to India) style (van der Merwe 1989, p. 9).

Habib Hassan Touma (1996, p.xix-xx) lists "five components" which "characterize the music of the Arabs:

Rhythmic-temporal structures that produce a rich variety of rhythmic patterns, awzan, used to accompany the metered vocal and instrumental genres and give them form.

Musical instruments that are found throughout the Arabian world and that represent a standardized tone system, are played with standardized performance techniques, and exhibit similar details in construction and design.

Specific social contexts for the making of music, whereby musical genres can be classified as urban (music of the city inhabitants), rural (music of the country inhabitants), or Bedouin (music of the desert inhabitants)....

A musical mentality that is responsible for the aesthetic homogeneity of the tonal-spatial and rhythmic-temporal structures in Arabian music, whether composed or improvised, instrumental or vocal, secular or sacred. The Arab's musical mentality is defined by:

The maqām phenomenon....

The predominance of vocal music...

The predilection for small instrumental ensembles...

The mosaiclike stringing together of musical form elements, that is, the arrangement in a sequence of small and smallest melodic elements, and their repetition, combination, and permutation within the framework of the tonal-spatial model.

The absence of polyphony, polyrhythm, and motivic development. Arabian music is, however, very familiar with the ostinato, as well as with a more instinctive heterophonic way of making music.

The alternation between a free rhythmic-temporal and fixed tonal-spatial organization on the one hand and a fixed rhythmic-temporal and free tonal-spatial structure on the other. This alternation...results in exciting contrasts."

Much Arab music is characterized by an emphasis on melody and rhythm rather than harmony. Thus much Arabic music is homophonic in nature. Some genres of Arab music are polyphonic—as the instrument Kanoun is based upon the idea of playing two-note chords—but quintessentially, Arabic music is melodic.

It would be incorrect though to call it modal, for the Arabic system is more complex than that of the Greek modes. The basis of the Arabic music is the maqam (pl. maqamat), which looks like the mode, but is not quite the same. The maqam has a "tonal" note on which the piece must end (unless modulation occurs).

The maqam consists of at least two jins, or scale segments. "Jins" in Arabic comes from the ancient Greek word "genus," meaning type. In practice, a jins (pl. ajnas) is either a trichord, a tetrachord, or a pentachord. The trichord is three notes, the tetrachord four, and the pentachord five. The maqam usually covers only one octave (two jins), but sometimes it covers more than one octave. Like the melodic minor scale and Indian ragas, some maqamat have different ajnas, and thus notes, while descending or ascending. Because of the continuous innovation of jins and because most music scholars don't agree on the existing number anyway, it's hard to give an accurate number of the jins. Nonetheless, in practice most musicians would agree on the 8 most frequently used ajnas: Rast, Bayat, Sikah, Hijaz, Saba, Kurd, Nahawand, and Ajam—and a few of the most commonly used variants of those: Nakriz, Athar Kurd, Sikah Beladi, Saba Zamzama. Mukhalif is a rare jins used exclusively in Iraq, and it does not occur in combination with other ajnas.

The main difference between the western chromatic scale and the Arabic scales is the existence of many in-between notes, which are sometimes referred to as quarter tones for the sake of practicality. However, while in some treatments of theory the quarter tone scale or all twenty four tones should exist, according to Yūsuf Shawqī (1969) in practice there are many fewer tones (Touma 1996, p. 170).

In fact, the situation is much more complicated than that. In 1932, at International Convention on Arabic music held in Cairo, Egypt (attended by such Western luminaries as Béla Bartók and Henry George Farmer), experiments were done which determined conclusively that the notes in actual use differ substantially from an even-tempered 24-tone scale, and furthermore that the intonation of many of those notes differ slightly from region to region (Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iraq). The commission's recommendation is as follows: "The tempered scale and the natural scale should be rejected. In Egypt, the Egyptian scale is to be kept with the values, which were measured with all possible precision. The Turkish, Syrian, and Iraqi scales should remain what they are..." (translated in Maalouf 2002, p. 220). Both in modern practice, and based on the evidence from recorded music over the course of the last century, there are several differently-tuned "E"s in between the E-flat and E-natural of the Western Chromatic scale, depending on the maqam or jins in use, and depending on the region.

Musicians and teachers refer to these in-between notes as "quarter-tones" ("half-flat" or "half-sharp") for ease of nomenclature, put perform and teach the exact values of intonation in each jins or maqam by ear. It should also be added, in reference to Touma's comment above, that these "quarter-tones" are not used everywhere in the maqamat: in practice, Arabic music does not modulate to 12 different tonic areas like the Well-Tempered Klavier, and so the most commonly used "quarter tones" are on E (between E-flat and E-natural), A, B, D, F (between F-natural and F-sharp) and C.

The prototypical Arab ensemble in Egypt and Syria is known as the takht, which includes, (or included at different time periods) instruments such as the 'oud, qanún, rabab, nay, violin (which was introduced in the 1840s or 50s), riq and dumbek. In Iraq, the traditional ensemble, known as the chalghi, includes only two melodic instruments—the jowza (similar to the rabab but with four strings) and santur--with riq and dumbek.

Cuisine

Originally, the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula relied heavily on a diet of dates, wheat, barley, rice and meat, with little variety, with a heavy emphasis on yogurt products, such as leben (لبن) (yoghurt without butterfat). Arabian cuisine today is the result of a combination of richly diverse cuisines, spanning the Arab world from Iraq to Morocco and incorporating Lebanese, Egyptian and others. It has also been influenced to a degree by the cuisines of India, Turkey, Berber and others. In an average Arab gulf state household, a visitor might expect a dinner consisting of a very large platter, shared commonly, with a vast mountain of rice, incorporating lamb or chicken, or both, as separate dishes, with various stewed vegetables, heavily spiced, sometimes with a tomato sauce. Most likely, there would be several other items on the side, less hearty. Tea would certainly accompany the meal, as it is almost constantly consumed. Coffee would be included as well.

Dress

Men

Arab dress for men ranges from the traditional flowing robes to blue jeans, T-shirts and western business suits. The robes allow for maximum circulation of air around the body to help keep it cool, and the head dress provides protection from the sun. At times, Arabs mix the traditional garb with Western clothes. [3]

Headdress The male headdress is also known as Keffiyeh. Headdress pattern might be an indicator of which tribe, clan, or family the wearer comes from. However this is not always the case. While in one village, a tribe or clan might have a unique headdress, in the next town over an unrelated tribe or clan might wear the same headdress.

Checkered headdresses relate to type and government and participation in the Hajj, or a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Red and white checkered headdress – Generally of Jordanian origin. Wearer has made Hajj and comes from a country with a Monarch.

Black and white checkered headdress – The pattern is historically of Palestinian origin.

Black and grey represent Presidential rule and completion of the Hajj.

Shi’a- black turbans associated with Shi’a clergy who are somehow connected to the Prophet Muhammed or Ali Ibn Abi Talib the cousin of the Prophet who was the 4th Khalif of Islam and leader of the Shi’a sect.

Those who wear white turbans are associated with the lower echelons of the Shi’a hierarchy.

Women

Women in Arab culture traditionally adhere to traditional dress varies across societies. For example, dress is more traditional in Saudi Arabia, and less traditional in Egypt. Traditional Arab dress features the full length body cover (abaya, jilbāb, or chador) and veil (hijab). Concerns of modesty are the reason for the dress. The most devoted women cover their faces as well as the bodies in veils/robes. Rural women, who typically work in the fields, may wear less restrictive garments lighter in color and weight.